


Beach Camping and Breakups

by penstrikesmidnight



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Camping, Getting Back Together, M/M, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22720585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penstrikesmidnight/pseuds/penstrikesmidnight
Summary: To get Akaashi’s mind off of his most recent breakup, Bokuto suggests he and Akaashi take an overnight trip. It's the first time they've been alone together for so long since high school, but Bokuto is determined to make Akaashi happy.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 10
Kudos: 114
Collections: Haikyuu Valentines





	Beach Camping and Breakups

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosevtea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosevtea/gifts).



Bokuto shifts his eyes up from where he is staring his tea kettle down when Akaashi sighs for the fifth time since he walked through the door. Bokuto has been hiding by the stove ever since he had noticed Akaashi's moping mood, because, as intimately familiar as he is with moping, he doesn't know how to help someone else through it, especially when it is Akaashi. Akaashi is always...stoic. Even-keeled. No-nonsense. The one who tells Bokuto to get his shit together when he lets something get to him. He thinks that if they sit here in this stretched-thin silence, he's going to crawl out of his skin. Maybe they should go somewhere, do something? That always helped Bokuto clear his mind. Did it work the same for Akaashi...?

The tea kettle whistles. Bokuto jumps, a spoon he had had his hand next to clattering to the floor. He scrambles to pick it up, wincing when it clangs against a drawer handle and again when he throws it in the sink. He glances surreptitiously over to Akaashi, who meets his gaze with raised eyebrows. He averts his eyes and focuses on fixing their cups. "Um, the tea. The tea's ready."

"Did you break anything?" Akaashi asks drily.

"No!" Bokuto says, extra careful now when he grabs the mugs he had just filled. He hands one to Akaashi, who thanks him, and then he plops himself down next to him, careful not to spill anything. He glances over at Akaashi, watches as he takes a careful sip of his tea. He nods his approval. Bokuto feels himself relax for the first time since Akaashi sat down.

They sit for a few minutes in silence, enjoying each other's company. Bokuto and Akaashi are both still in Tokyo, but they don't go to the same university. Bokuto didn't think that would make so much of a difference, but they hardly ever saw each other outside of group get togethers, and Bokuto has to admit that he has missed this. He just wishes they had planned to get together for any other reason.

"You wanna talk about it?" Bokuto asks finally. He glances over at Akaashi, who takes a drink of his tea, staring toward the blank TV screen across from him. His mouth is set in a harsh line, which Bokuto has learned is not always because he is upset, but could mean he is trying to make a decision. Bokuto scoots further into the couch cushion, propping his feet on the coffee table. Akaashi gives them a disapproving look, but it's his coffee table, he can do what he likes. 

"There's nothing really to talk about," Akaashi finally says, sitting back to mirror Bokuto's posture, minus the footrest. " _I_ broke up with _him_ , I shouldn't be feeling like this."

Bokuto nods. He takes the last sip of his drink and sets it on the table before giving Akaashi his full attention. "Just because it stopped working doesn't mean you can just get rid of your feelings like that."

Bokuto is treading on unsteady ground. He has loved Akaashi since the first time Akaashi spoke to him. Nothing has stopped him from that.

He can't let Akaashi know.

Akaashi nods. He looks tired, unhappy, and Bokuto hates it.

"Let's go camping."

Akaashi turns to Bokuto, surprised. Bokuto swallows, not sure why he blurted that out, but he's not about to take it back. "Yeah! Just a quick trip, we'll be back by tomorrow afternoon! It'll be a good distraction! And we've talked about taking a trip, we just haven't had the time..."

"We aren't prepared to go camping," Akaashi, ever the realist, counters. "We don't have a reservation, we would have to get supplies, food..."

"Listen, we'll camp on the beach! They do it all the time in America and it looks fun! And then we'll have food close, and we can just take some instant stuff in case. Or I have left overs we can heat up. We don't have to do anything major, just get out of the city. And it's only October, so we won't freeze C'mon, Akaashi, _please_?"

Akaashi is staring at Bokuto as if he'd just announced he were going to join the circus. (Which, maybe he _had_ , at one point, told Akaashi it would be a fun thing to do, so he knows what that look would entail), but before Bokuto goes on to list more reasons this trip would work, Akaashi says, "I'm pretty sure it's illegal to camp on the beach," and Bokuto knows he has won.

"Nah, I looked it up! It's not _technically_ illegal, and besides, if we get kicked off the beach we can just sleep in the car! Or find a hotel. There's a place about two hours away that should be fine!"

This is probably the craziest thing Bokuto has proposed, but he doesn't think it is a bad idea. In fact, he had actually already planned the whole thing, he had just wanted to wait until summer to execute it. But this seemed the perfect time, with Akaashi needing a distraction from his breakup with what's-his-face (Bokuto did try hard to remember Akaashi's boyfriends names, really, but sometimes he just couldn't keep them straight), and the fact that Akaashi said that he was free the whole weekend and Bokuto's next assignment was due on Tuesday. They had plenty of time. And if it went well, they could go back in the summer, for longer. And in a better mood.

So that's how Bokuto finds himself in the passenger seat of Akaashi's tiny car, his tent and portable grill shoved in the backseat and two backpacks of food and a change of clothes between them. They should arrive at Bokuto's designated camping site with just enough time to set everything up and make dinner before the sun set.

The first part of the ride is fairly silent, Bokuto flipping through his playlists until Akaashi very politely asks him to stop or he'd throw Bokuto's phone out the window. He plays a game on his phone until he runs out of lives, and then after that he alternates from staring out the window to staring at Akaashi while trying to be as discreet about it as possible.

"Bokuto, you can talk to me, you know. I'm not going to burst into tears or snap at you if you say something wrong," Akaashi finally says, his voice tinged exasperated, when he catches Bokuto side-eyeing him for the fifth time.

Bokuto lets out a big breath. "I know, but we are going on this trip to get your mind off of him! I don't want to ruin the moment because I was going to tell you how excited I am about your breakup because he was a total bore. I mean, who doesn't want to go out to a bar _for dinner_ with your friends? We weren't even going to drink! I just like the food!"

Akaashi laughs. "He was kind of uptight about things, wasn't he? I hated that he didn't want to hang out with you."

"I'm an awesome person," Bokuto agrees.

They make it to the beach about an hour later. Bokuto had gone back to his usual chatty self, and he was relieved when Akaashi seemed to had relaxed back to his normal state, which is still slightly on guard, but Bokuto is used to it at this point.

Akaashi starts up their portable grill as Bokuto sets up the tent. He had picked a fairly secluded part of the beach, and since it is off-season Bokuto is fairly sure they won't see anyone for the rest of the evening. Bokuto glances around, admiring the orangey-pink haze of the beach at sunset. He watches Akaashi push some of his hair away from his face as he concentrates on dinner, the lighting making him seem not-quite-there, an illusion, a figment of Bokuto's hopes. He turns back to the tent. 

After the tent had been set up and the backpacks and sleeping bags deposited into it, Bokuto joins Akaashi at their small grill, where Akaashi has just finished heating up their leftover rice and cooked some chicken. "It might be a little bland."

"I'm sure I'll love it," Bokuto responds, warming his hands on bottom of the bowl. He had only brought a light jacket (even after Akaashi had told him to pack something heavier). Akaashi sighs and unfolds a blanket that he had brought, probably specifically for this reason. "We're going to have to do so much washing after this."

"Thanks, Akaashi," Bokuto says, then starts into his food.

After dinner, Akaashi suggests a walk along the shoreline, and Bokuto agrees. The water is freezing, but the tide is low enough that they can miss most of the water and still walk on solid sand. For the most part, the walk is quiet. They're so close together Akaashi's arm brushes against Bokuto's every few minutes. Bokuto so wants to reach out and take Akaashi's hand in his own, but there are so many reasons why that is a bad idea. First and foremost, because Akaashi had just gone through a breakup the week before.

They make it back to their campsite just as the sky turns purple, a pretty, blossoming bruise giving way to the night sky. Bokuto isn't ready to go back yet, so he tells Akaashi he is going back down to the water to watch the tide roll in. He is surprised when Akaashi joins him.

They have to share a blanket, because by this point Bokuto definitely sees why Akaashi had told him to bring a bigger jacket, and there aren't enough extra between them. Having Akaashi's warm body so close to Bokuto makes him shiver for a reason entirely separate from the cold. He wants to trace Akaashi's arm, his long, lean fingers, like he used to before they had gone their separate ways. 

The lull of the waves quiets Bokuto's mind, settles him into a complacent silence, which is unusual for him. Growing up has taught Bokuto ways to control his emotions, and nature is one of his favorites. Hiking, biking, the beach. They all help him relax, help defuse the knot of emotions he always seems to have bundled at the base of his throat.

"Why did we break up?"

The question is quiet, barely audible over the crash of the next wave against the shore. Bokuto stares hard at the water receding back, leaving the sand dark for a moment before it is covered in water again.

It is a question he has asked himself every time something reminds him of Akaashi, which is frequently. Bokuto's throat is suddenly dry, so he swallows, trying to find words. "I...I don't know," Bokuto confesses, gripping his arms tightly around his knees, pressing his chin down, as if he could become small enough to escape this conversation. "You said you thought it was a good idea, so I said okay. You always knew best."

Bokuto doesn't look at Akaashi, even though he is dying to see how he reacted to Bokuto's statement. Instead, Bokuto watches as a few seagulls chase each other on the rocky cliffs down to the right of them. He wonders if they should get something to feed them tomorrow, but he knows Akaashi will scoff at him because these birds are fed more than enough. Maybe they'll go to a park and feed ducks instead.

"I thought," Akaashi says, softly, so quiet that Bokuto has to turn toward him to hear, "it would be easier for both of us. For you to start college fresh, no lingering attachments to high school, and for me to focus on my studies. And then...And then you just said okay, like it was nothing. I thought...I thought..."

Bokuto watches Akaashi swipe at his cheeks. He hadn't realized he'd started crying, but now, in the light of the dying sun, he can see that Akaashi's cheeks glisten just slightly. "It doesn't matter, because I'm the one who broke it off. I'm always the one to break it off, and then I’m angry when they don’t want to fight for our relationship, even when I don't want them to. I'm so...demanding.”

Bokuto sits very, very still. It’s a very Akaashi thing, he thinks, to tell himself that he shouldn't test another person's commitment to their relationship. It's also a very Akaashi thing to do it in such a quietly dramatic fashion.

"I love you," Bokuto says when the words become too big to contain. "I'm not trying to pressure you into anything, or tell you it's a good idea to jump back into something we clearly lost. But...I just wanted you to know. That I love you, and I will always love you, no matter what happens. It's different than high school. Hell, it's more _mature_ than high school, if nothing else."

Bokuto takes Akaashi's hands, where they've tangled together so tightly the skin of his fingers are white, and separates them. When he goes to pull away, Akaashi laces their fingers together. "I don't...I'm not ready for a relationship right now. But if you wanted to kiss me, I wouldn't be opposed."

Bokuto doesn't need to be asked twice. He has dreamed about this moment since they had broken up all those years ago, and when he presses their lips together, it is as familiar as holiday traditions or visiting home after a long semester. "I was scared of losing our friendship," Bokuto says after a long few moments of nothing but Akaashi. "I was heartbroken when you said we should be friends, but I'd rather be friends than be nothing. And like I said, you always know best."

Akaashi laughs. "Very clearly, we're learning that I, in fact, do not." Bokuto tucks some of Akaashi's dark hair behind his ear. The sun has officially left the sky, and everything except Akaashi is a soft, dark mass around him. "Don't let me ever try to tell you that I don't want you as part of my life. Who else would make me do something they want to do in the name of selflessness?"

"Hey! You said you wanted to go! And I didn't hear any other suggestions coming from you!"

Akaashi silences Bokuto with a kiss. "After tonight, we'll go back to our real lives. In two weeks you can ask me to go watch that dumb superhero movie coming out..."

"Superhero movies aren't dumb!" Bokuto protests, because he definitely already has tickets for it.

"And I'll say yes. And we'll see where it goes from there."

Bokuto stands up, pulling Akaashi with him. He enfolds Akaashi in his blanketed arms and they stand that way for a few minutes before Akaashi says, "Are you trying to suffocate me?"

Bokuto drops his arms, tripping over his words as he apologizes. Akaashi just laughs and gathers up the blankets.

"Thanks," Akaashi says suddenly when they're tucked away into their sleeping bags. Bokuto turns to look at Akaashi and can barely make out the blue of Akaashi's eyes. "I don't think I've been this happy in a long time."

"Well, you've come to the right person, because I want everyone to be happy. You especially."

Akaashi smiles. "It's one of my favorite things about you, Koutarou."

Bokuto snuggles down into his sleeping bag, still turned to Akaashi. Maybe he'd lowkey planned that their beach camping trip would turn into this, but he'd never tell Akaashi. At least, not for a few months.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it Melly! These two are always a treat to write.
> 
> As always, comments/kudos welcome!


End file.
